COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – An American women’s team, Mima Mirkovic/Kathryn Plummer, and Brazilian men’s team took home the top prize at the 2017 USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Open last weekend in Huntington Beach, California.
The Collegiate Beach Open was the championship event for High Performance athletes in the U21/U23 age groups. Three of the four pairs competing at the FIVB U21 World Championships this week, in China, also competed in USAV’s event. Mima Mirkovic/Kathryn Plummer won gold, and will look to add gold on the international stage this week at the FIVB U21 World Championships.
Finishing second among the women were Savannah Simo/Torrey Van Winden, also competing in the U21 World Champs. Brazilians Renato Carvalho/Adrielson Silva won the men’s tournament, beating Rafael Quieroz/Gabriel Gouveia.
Placing third on the men’s side were U21 World Championship main draw entrants Adam Wienckowski/Clay Messenger. The women’s bronze medalists were Vitoria Rodrigues/Victoria Lopes.
The women’s field had 14 teams, broken into two pools of five and one pool of four. Top finishers in the Pool A included Rodrigues/Lopes (4-0), and Mirkovic/Plummer (3-1). In Pool B, Sammy Slater/Haley Hallgren were 4-0, while Abril Bustamante/Skylar Caputo went 3-1. Pool C saw all three teams go 2-1.
After a single-elimination play-in and quarterfinals, Mirkovic/Plummer defeated Lopes/Rodrigues 21-16, 21-18 in their semifinal match. Simo/Van Winden beat Hailey Harward/Claire Coppola, 21-8, 16-21, 15-12. For gold, Mirkovic/Plummer topped Simo/Van Winden in two close sets, 23-21, 21-19. Lopes/Rodrigues earned bronze after three sets against Harward/Coppola, 18-21, 21-12, 15-12.
Men’s play featured two pools of five teams each. Quieroz/Goveia led Pool A with a 4-0 record. In Pool B, Carvalho/Silva were 4-0. In the men’s semifinals, Quieroz/Goveia topped Timothy Brewster/Rowdy Lennon, 23-21, 21-12; and Carvalho/Silva advanced past Wienkowski/Messenger, 21-9, 21-9.
For gold, Carvalho/Silva finished their run of the tournament with a 21-15, 21-15 victory against Quieroz/Goveia. Wienkowski/Messenger ended with a win, against Brewster/Lennon, 21-11, 21-17.
Final Standings
| WOMEN | Team | |
| 1 | Mima Mirkovic/Kathryn Plummer | |
| 2 | Savannah Simo/Torrey Van Winden | |
| 3 | Victoria Lopes/Vitoria Rodrigues | |
| 4 | Hailey Harwood/Claire Coppola | |
| MEN | ||
| 1 | Renato Carvalho/Adrielson Silva | |
| 2 | Rafael Quieroz/Gabriel Goveia | |
| 3 | Adam Wienkowski/Clay Messenger | |
| 4 | Timothy Brewster/Rowdy Lennon |
#USA take gold and silver for the women while #Brazil does for the men at the Collegiate Beach Open in advance of @FIVBBVBU21 pic.twitter.com/ZNkhGgaRfm
— USAV Beach (@USAVBeach) July 10, 2017